Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam highly evaluated Brazil’s growing position in theinternational arena and wants to enhance its comprehensive cooperation with theSouth American country, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham BinhMinh has said.

Duringhis talks with Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira in Hanoi onSeptember 11, Minh applauded the guest’s official visit to Vietnam, which takesplace at a time when the two nations are celebrating the 10th foundinganniversary of comprehensive partnership.

Whileexpressing his admiration for Vietnam’s great and comprehensive achievements overthe past three decades of reform, Ferreira affirmed that Brazil has advocated aforeign policy of diversification of relations, in which Brazil has consideredVietnam a leading partner in the Asia-Pacific region.

Bothministers held that Vietnam-Brazil cooperative ties have been developingpositively in all spheres, including politics with regular visits and meetingsby senior leaders, ministries and sectors.

Two-waytrade has increased by three times since 2010 to 3.1 billion USD in 2016 andreached 1.9 billion USD in the first seven months of 2017, up 9 percent overthe same period last year.

Vietnamand Brazil have also maintained close cooperation at international organisationsand multilateral forums, especially in the United Nations and the World TradeOrganisation (WTO).

Theministers affirmed that the two countries still hold a lot of potentials forstronger cooperation, particularly in the fields of agricultural and aquatic productproduction and processing, manufacturing, bioenergetics, infrastructure construction,aviation and transport.

Forthe time ahead, the ministers agreed to increase the exchange of visits bysenior leaders, ministries and sectors and support relations through Party,parliament and locality channels.

Onthis occasion, Minh asked Ferreira to convey President Tran Dai Quang’sgreetings and invitation to Brazilian President Michel Temer to officially visitVietnam. Meanwhile, Ferreira also handed over President Temer’s letter ofinvitation to President Quang to pay an official visit to Brazil in 2018 inorder to strengthen the bilateral comprehensive partnership.

Theministers consented to effectively uphold the mechanism of theInter-governmental Committee for Economic-Commercial and Scientific-TechnologicalCooperation and to hold its third meeting in the first half of 2018.

Theyconcurred to regularly maintain the political consultation at the foreigndeputy minister level and speed up negotiations towards the signing of a frameagreement on technical cooperation, an agreement on investment support andcooperation, and a government-level memorandum of understanding on educational cooperation,among others.

Thetwo sides also agreed to make greater efforts to raise the bilateral tradevalue to 10 billion USD in the next few years and further promote cooperation inthe areas of culture, training, tourism and sports through concrete programmesand projects.

Thetwo sides promised to cooperate closely and support each other at internationalorganisations and multilateral forums, and foster cooperative ties between theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Southern Common Market(MERCOSUR).

Minhtook this occasion to thank the Brazilian Government for backing Vietnam’scandidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021term and urged Brazil to soon recognise Vietnam’s market economy status as wellas its candidacy in other international organisations.

Theministers also exchanged in-depth discussions and viewpoints on regional andinternational issues of mutual concern. Regarding the East Sea issue, theministers supported the settlement of sovereignty disputes through peacefulmeasures, on the basis of full respect for the diplomatic and legal process andin accordance with international law, including the  United Nations Convention on the Law of theSea 1982 (UNCLOS).

MinisterFerreira invited Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Minh to officially visit Brazilat a convenient time.

Earlierthe same day, under the witness of Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham BinhMinh, Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira and Minister of Transport TruongQuang Nghia signed an agreement on maritime shipping cooperation between the twogovernments.-VNA